PINK 



tion out of us. I have found myself often covered, as it were, 

 with an imbricated coat of the brown desmodium seeds or a 

 bristUng chevaux-de-frise of beggar-ticks, and had to spend a 

 quarter of an hour or more picking them off in some convenient 

 spot; and so they get just what they wanted — deposited in an- 

 other place." 



BOUNCING BET. SOAPWORT. 



[PI. cxiv 



Saponaria officinalis. Pink Family. 



Stem. — Rather stout ; swollen at the joints. Leaves. — Oval ; opposite. 

 Flozvers. — Pink or white ; clustered. Calyx. — Of five united sepals. Co- 

 rolla. — Of five pinkish, long-clawed petals (frequently the flowers are 

 double). Stamens. — Ten. Pistil. — One, with two styles. 



A cheery pretty plant is this with large, rose-tinged flowers 

 which are especially effective when double. 



Bouncing Bet is of a sociable turn and is seldom found far 

 from civilization, delighting in the proximity of farm-houses and 

 their belongings, in the shape of children, chickens, and cattle. 

 She comes to us from England, and her '^ feminine comeliness 

 and bounce " suggest to Mr. Burroughs a Yorkshire housemaid. 

 The generic name is from sapo — soap — and refers to the lather 

 which the juice forms with water, and which is said to have been 

 used as a substitute for soap. 



PURPLE GERARDIA. 



Gerardia purpurea. Figwort Family. 



Stem. — One to four feet high; widely branching. Leaves. — Linear; 

 sharply pointed. Flowers. — Bright purplish-pink ; rather large. Calyx. — 

 Five-toothed. Corolla. — One inch long; somewhat tubular; swelling 

 above ; with five more or less unequal, spreading lobes ; often downy and 

 spotted within. Stamens. — Four; in pairs; hairy. Pistil. — One. 



In late summer and early autumn these pretty, noticeable 

 flowers brighten the low-lying ground along the coast and in the 

 neighborhood of the Great Lakes. The sandy fields of New 



248 



